Keith Thurman vs. Luis Collazo - KO’s for Life and The Bridesmaid
 By Allan Cerf, Doghouse Boxing (June 30, 2015)
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| Ever-tested Veteran and continual Welterweight contender, Luis Collazo, takes on rising star, talented Keith Thurman, on free-TV. The fight should be exciting and fan-friendly. Catch it: July 11 on ESPN, 6 p.m. Eastern 9 p.m. Pacific.
In life, there’s always someone just as good the ‘stars’ who just doesn’t get the credit. Luis Collazo is boxing’s Over-Achiever, who for some odd reason- hasn’t become a household name. If at age 34, he conspires to beat Keith Thurman a cheer will be heard coast-to-coast for every talent that dumb luck has conspired to keep from Grasping The Brass Ring.
A hard-puncher and rising force, Keith Thurman whose slogan is “Knock Outs for Life,” will do everything in his power to soundly defeat Collazo –preferably by KO which leaves no questions. For fans, all ingredients are present for what should be a great fight which answers important questions:
How good is Keith Thurman? Is he going to own the Welterweight Division now that Money is taking a gimme and then retiring?
Does Collazo still have still have the stuff? Stuff so good that, to quote Don King, only boxing
‘Poli-tricks,’ and the occasional bad night can keep him from regaining the championship he held for just 5 months back in 2006?
Or… will boxing again blacken its own eyes and find a way to spoil what should be a terrific scrap?
All of us know a Luis Collazo: The Office Superstar who never gets the key promotion, the best qualified candidate who just doesn’t have the ‘organization’ to win the election, the second-string high school athlete who, one-on-one in the park, destroys the varsity stars.
Because of nonsense by the WBA, Collazo was their Welterweight Champion “but not really” in 2006, because that organization held Cory Spinks as “Undisputed Champion.” However, if he was undisputed, why was Collazo also champion? Spinks then lost to Zab Judah. But…an unmotivated Judah then lost to Carlos Baldomir. …Baldomir though, had refused to pay sanctioning fees to the WBA… Leaving Collazo standing as the WBA’s only and real Welterweight champ!
For Ricky Hatton’s Welterweight debut- either through stupidity or a desire to really test the hyped Mancunian, Hatton’s people chose Collazo: left-handed, tough, speedy and versatile. Luis gave Ricky absolute hell in losing his WBA Title in a highly controversial fight that for once, really could have “gone either way.” Luis’s brief reign as a Welterweight champion was over.
Collazo looked bad in his next big event, a 2007 loss to Shane Mosley. I do believe Luis’s claim of a training camp injury to his left hand (he’s left handed) and that he reinjured it during the bout. Whatever the cases – the night was Mosley’s, despite Collazo’s occasional bursts of hand-speed.
The risk-reward of a fighter with Collazo’s package: southpaw, world-class speed, solid fundamentals and toughness, make it a no-brainer that more hyped fighters – or their managers, avoid him. Collazo’s career floated along until his next meaningful fight against champion Andre Berto in 2009.
I thought Collazo won a close, but clear decision, against Berto, as did HBO. It was an entertaining, back and forth affair that saw Berto penalized for disgraceful holding (shades of Adrien Broner) though Berto had a tremendous 12th and final round, while Collazo gassed-out. It seems obligatory to mention that in later years, Andre Berto would fail a test to detect PEDS, though it was later decided the test had somehow been contaminated and Berto was cleared…
Long tears passed before Collazo’s next big shot – he even took all of 2010 off. Whether Collazo was injured, disinterested or no one would fight him, I find Collazo’s career arc, 2009-2014 a little murky. Collazo, at this point a reformed family man and Christian, made the utmost of his next great chance by knocking out Victor Ortiz – a sensational obliteration of the much younger man in the second round. As Paulie Malignaggi correctly screamed into his microphone: “He’s always been at a world class level.”
Collazo’s people wanted to leverage momentum and in a huge step-up in class (in my opinion) he took on Amir Khan, whom I believe is the fastest fighter in the world. He lost badly with Khan’s blinding speed making it just too difficult – at least on the night.
There is less to say about the exciting Keith Thurman simply because he’s far the younger fighter. A likeable, intelligent young gun, whose hobby is reading, Thurman started boxing after seeing an exhibition in his grade school cafeteria! After obtaining permission from Mom, Thurman kept boxing and has never looked back. He is quick and punches very, very hard. I think his undefeated run to the top with exceptions (Bundu, Guerrero) has come against somewhat modest competition and I wish he would fight more often. Having promised fan-friendly fights and KO’s for life, Thurman has to be
careful – we fans will insist on them.
Against Guerrero, despite not delivering another KO for Life, Thurman totally dominated a fighter with tremendous fundamentals and in doing so, owned The Ghost in a way only Mayweather had and in terms of power, in ways Mayweather had not. Disappointment at the KO-less result aside, I think it was a huge step forward on the quality curve for Thurman.
Fighter’s Scorecard, Fight and Prediction
Keith Thurman:
Speed: 3.75
Power: 3.75
Defense: 3.50
Reach: 2.50
Stamina: 3.75
Experience: 3.00
Age: 3.75
Average of all factors: 3.42
Luis Collazo:
Speed: 3.90
Power: 3.50
Defense: 3.25
Reach: 3.50
Stamina: 2.50
Experience: 4.00
Age: 2.25
Average of all factors: 3.27
The Fight:
If Collazo’s old-pro skills and vastly superior resume – and dumb luck, are on his side, a huge upset could be sprung. After destroying the career of Jeff Lacy, I’m suspicious of Thurman’s Trainer, Dan Birmingham. I hope that if Collazo does hammer Thurman, Birmingham pulls him out if events turn hopeless.
Ultimately, I think one chink in Collazo’s arsenal will decide matters: his stamina. In the key fights he’s lost, his stamina – like De La Hoya’s, has let him down. I think that factor, combined with his age and Thurman’s blood-lust, power and speed will see Keith’s hand-raised at the end of a hugely entertaining fight that goes 12. If so, Keith better think twice about promising KO’s going forward.
Prediction: I like both guys a lot and my heart is with Collazo. If he wins, this author, the guy who used to whip the varsity hoop stars at my local playground, will celebrate Dumb Luck – better late than
never – smiling on Collazo.
But… my head says Keith Thurman by clear UD which confirms his abilities and may end the career of Collazo.
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